About this blog

The Rev. Timothy Cargal, Ph.D., serves as Assistant Stated Clerk for Preparation for Ministry in Mid Council Ministries of the Office of the General Assembly.

“... the Land that I Will Show You” is the blog of the Office of Preparation for Ministry of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This blog is designed to serve as a resource for those discerning and preparing for a call to the ministry of Word and Sacrament as ordained teaching elders of the church. It will also provide a place for reflecting on and dialoging about the changing context of pastoral ministry in the early 21st century.

For quick announcements about changes or developments in the preparation process, dates related to exams or other key events, discussion boards, surveys, etc., you can follow us on Facebook at “Preparing for Presbyterian Ministry.”

Over the next eight days, almost 600 inquirers and candidates will write a just over 1,000 total ordination examinations. Roughly 20% of those will be Bible Content Examinations (BCE), and the remainder are fairly evenly divided across the Theology, Worship & Sacraments, Polity, and Exegesis exams. Those taking the BCE on February 3 will receive their results immediately upon completion (since it is a multiple choice exam taken online), while those taking the other “ords” will anxiously be waiting to receive their results about a week after the Reading Groups meet on March 5-7.

Two pieces have come across my computer screen in recent days that particularly caught my attention. Both relate to topics I have addressed before in this blog, but they also help to broaden the scope of vision. They remind us that issues within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) reflect a sea change affecting the whole of the church in American society.

One of the pieces is a story from the Columbus Dispatch about someone ordained to ministry by an association of independent Christian community churches (click here to read the story). The person focused on in the story is ...